Skulduggery Pleasant: Detecting
by Badgirl.Riddim
Summary: Skulduggery and Valkyrie are on th trail of a mysterious woman named Donna Thorpe but who is she and what does she have to do with Serpine? R&R Please :
1. The Beginning

Skulduggery sat in the front of his Bentley R-Type Continental waiting for Valkyrie Cain, his 13 year old colleague, to come out of the office block. He waited in silence, only making a noise when laying out all of the possibilities that his colleague may have been captured by forces unknown. He then abruptly laughed and shook the thought from his mind. He was just cleaning a speck of dust from the dashboard when he noticed the time on the clock. It was 5:30PM and people were rushing out of their buildings trying to avoid the traffic jams. He also noticed that Valkyrie was still not back. She'd been in the building for an hour and a half and he had no idea whether she was alright or not. He decided he'd had enough and , donning his disguise, got out of the car and made his way to the building with the glass front.

******

Valkyrie Cain let herself be led to Miss Thorpe's office by the two burly security guards. She didn't mind this long trek as it gave her a chance to think about what she was going to say when she got to the woman's room. She knew she had to keep it sweet and to the point because she couldn't be to long. Skulduggery was in the car outside, waiting for her. They all took a turn to the right, past a door with several locks on it. The Door had a sign:-

'PRIVATE.

For use with GOLD Clearance Cards ONLY'

Valkyrie wondered how many people knew about the secrets that lay beyond this special door and, especially, if she would find out if she told Skulduggery about it. After all, he liked breaking in to forbidden places.

"How long now?" she asked the guard to her right.

"Oh, about 5 minutes and then we'll take the elevator to the 31st floor" he replied, not looking at her.

"OK, Cool. It's just as soon as I've seen Miss Thorpe I really must be going. My associate is waiting in the car for me."

This made the guards stiffen.

"So someone knows you're here?" the guard to the left asked.

"Mm-hmm. And he gets quite anxious when I'm on my own. If I'm to long he'll come looking for me." Valkyrie said, half surprised, half scared as she realised her voice was beginning to tremble. She knew that when someone said 'Someone knows you're here?' they weren't just making small talk, or worrying about what dangers were waiting for her when she left the building, where they could no longer protect her. They were, more often than not, going to attack her. Valkyrie calmed herself down, knowing that if she didn't, her powers would be of no use to her. She tried to think about her parents, and what they would be doing right now and if they would ever know that she had die-. No she wasn't going to die. If she was too long Skulduggery would save the day. He was outside he knew when something was wrong. She would be just fine. She hoped.

They took a left and continued walking down a white corridor. Unlike the others this had no doors and no picture's. No decorations at all. But at the end of the corridor she could see the silver doors which would mean they were nearing the lift shaft. Both the guards stopped and held their heads still as if they were listening to instructions.

"They probably ARE listening to instructions. From Miss Thorpe. They have earpieces." Valkyrie thought to herself.

One of the guards took a remote from his pocket and pressed a big button in the middle of it. The silver doors opened with a 'PING'. Valkyrie continued walking. The guard to her left dropped back to talk to his earpiece but the guard on the right kept her walking. He made her quicken her pace.

"Valkyrie? Valkyrie Cain? Is that your name?"

"Yes. I've already told you that. Why are you asking?"

"Never mind. All you need to know is that Miss Thorpe and that guard over there are not going to be very sympathetic with you. That man over there is ruthless. Miss Thorpe uses him to beat the hell out of anyone she doesn't like then after he's finished with them she'll take over and make them suffer. I'm sorry but I can't let you off the hook. But at least you know what to expect. Now at least, you have the element of surprise on your side." the guard looked round to the other guard who was still talking into his earpiece. He glanced sideways at Valkyrie.

"I don't need the element of surprise, I need the element of invisibility!" Valkyrie said incredulously, hardly believing her ears.

"I'm sorry, but you're on your own now." he said as the other guard started to approach.

"OK, Tim we don't need you anymore. Me and Miss Cain can go in the elevator on our own."

The guard who'd been talking to her, Tim the other guard had called him, backed down quietly and looked sadly at Valkyrie.

"Poor girl." he thought, "She has her whole life in front of her and now she's going to die…"

Tim rounded the corner and left the corridor, just as Valkyrie Cain stepped into the lift and the doors closed.


	2. Knocked Out

Skulduggery pushed through the double doors and made his way straight to the, now empty, reception desk. Whilst doing so he checked for CCTV Cameras and flicked his hand. Suddenly, there was a burst of sparks from one of the cameras and he said quietly "Dear, Dear they should really be more careful. Water inside Electric's… someone might just…sneak in…" and with that he checked no-one was around leaned over the desk and looked at the TV's containing picture's of all the camera's. He checked to see where the guards were. He made a mental note of where he would have to take the more difficult route and, feeling confident, stepped through some more double doors into a pristine white corridor. There were doors lining this corridor, there were potted trees by each door and a painting on the other side. It was tasteful and elegant. Exactly the way Skulduggery liked things. He tried to think of what Valkyrie had said to him.

"I'll be 20 minutes, 30 tops. All I have to do is go in there ask Miss Thorpe these questions and be out again right?"

"Right" he had said in agreement.

"OK, I'll see you in a while then. Bye"

"Bye" he had replied, beginning to sink into the seat. He had watched Valkyrie look carefully each way then go through the doors and disappear from view.

He cursed himself for not persuading her to let him go with her. But even if she had she would have glared at him and probably hit him so he thought he ought to leave her to herself.

Nothing she'd said was about what floor Miss Thorpe was on. As he turned a corner he saw a sign with a list of names and floor and room numbers on it. He scanned the list.

Daniel Robinson Floor 2 Room 102

Marlene Guyton Floor 18 Room 316

Donna Thorpe Floor 31 Room -

Room -? What was that all about?

"Oh well…" Skulduggery thought. "At least I know where to find her…" and with that he headed for a slightly hidden sign saying stairs. He went through the doors and started leaping two at a time up the steps, just as the elevator came to a stop on the 31st floor.

******

Valkyrie was glancing sideways to the guard in the lift with her. He did not seem to be moving. She shifted her weight on to her other leg and he turned to her quite sharply. She backed away slightly and he glared at her. They were only 5 floors up and they still had another 26 floors to go. She thought of the damage he could do to her in that time. She started to work out strategies in her mind. She could go out through the top of the lift but the guard might notice that.

"Stupid idea!" she thought.

"Yes, it was" the guard said. Valkyrie turned.

"Pardon?"

"It was a rather stupid idea that one. Someone tried that before… let's just say that they no longer walk this earth… Look" he said " You seem really nice and all but…"

Valkyrie backed away into a corner as a fist came smashing down on her head and the world went black.


	3. No Pain

Skulduggery had made it to the 30th floor and was just going up the last flight of steps when he heard it. The bang and then the grunting, as if someone was doing something tiring, like moving furniture. Skulduggery put his hand in the inside of his coat and held the gun that was waiting to be used. He heard a low male voice talking rather quickly, then a delicate female voice. Even more delicate than China Sorrows' voice. He crept up the stairs and went to a door. He pulled it open to reveal a burly security guard, obviously the low male voice he'd heard, he also saw a woman in a long red dress. The delicate female voice. In the middle of these two figures was the slumped body of Valkyrie Cain. Valkyrie had been tied to a chair using bits of rope. She looked as if she'd been hit as her eye was black and she was unconscious. The woman and the man immediately started babbling.

"We just found her. She looks in a bad way!" The woman said.

"She does!" he agreed. "The rope was much tighter round her before you walk-"

"Shut Up." Skulduggery said, his voice low and menacing. He said the words slowly. He looked at Valkyrie a bit closer and could see her arm was broken. He could tell immediately because, whoever had taken her coat off, had left the area where they'd broken her arm visible. Her arm was turning a deep purple and was already swelling. Skulduggery was still looking at Valkyrie when the woman and man started nodding to each other that they should go towards the door. Skulduggery, without turning, said: "Don't move."

"Who are you to tell us not to move?" asked the woman, obviously the boss.

"I'm a detective, my name is Skulduggery Pleasant and this girl, is my associate," Skulduggery replied, only now did he turn his head towards the two strangers. "whoever's done this to her will have a lifetime of misery…"

With this the two stranger's gulped. Skulduggery turned his whole body now. He walked towards the two strangers and handcuffed them to each other. The man tried to pull one way and the woman tried to pull the other. They fell over and Skulduggery picked up Valkyrie. She lay in his arms, the only movement she made was her chest rising, and falling as she, barely, breathed in and out. Skulduggery made the man and woman stand-up and, holding onto their handcuffs, made them walk down the stairs to the Bentley.

******

Valkyrie Cain woke up suddenly. Her vision was blurred and her arm was hurting. The last thing she remembered was the Security Guard in the lift about to hit her. She had forgotten what had happened after he'd hit her. She had almost cleared the vision in her eyes when she could make out the tall thin figure of Skulduggery talking to someone in a white lab-coat. Kenspeckle!

"Oh that's nice!" Valkyrie said sitting up "Talk to him, but don't fuss over me!" she said the last bit whilst laughing.

Skulduggery and Kenspeckle turned and looked at her. Kenspeckle's face was grim and Skulduggery - well, Skulduggery had no skin so she never knew whether he was smiling or not. Both men walked over to her. Skulduggery stood by the side of her bed, his hat pulled low down over his face, whilst Kenspeckle asked her some questions.

My dear Valkyrie," Kenspeckle began "every time I see you it doesn't surprise me that you're arm is broken. Now, how does this feel? Kenspeckle tok hold of her arm.

"Fine."

"No pain?"

"Nope, none at all."

"Not even the tineist bit?"

"NO!"

"OK."

"Why?" Skulduggery asked.

"Why what?" Kenspeckle replied. Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery.

"Why are you expecting her to feel pain?"

"Because the gel has only been on for 30 minutes, if that. It should take a little longer for her to feel no pain."

"Maybe she's broken her arm so many times that she can't feel it when it breaks anymore?"

"That's a possibility…"

"I am still here y'know…"

Valkyrie looked at them, her eyes were wide.

"Yes, indeed you are. Anyway, I want to keep you in a bit longer anyway."

"Why do you want to keep me in? Surely if my arm is better then I can go?"

"I want to do some test Valkyrie. If your arm does get used to the feeling of being broken then this could be a medical break-through."

"Can't we do this some other day? I have some bad guy butt to be kickin'…"

"Valkyrie, seeing as you're here now I may aswel do it now!"

"Well, what do you have to do?"

"Inject something into your bloodstream then take a few samples of blood. The injection fluid will knock you out, but that shouldn't be for too long."

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery who was doing nothing he just looked back at her with his hollow eye sockets. Valkyrie looked back at Kenspeckle then sighed and leaned back on the bed.

"Fine, do what you have to do"

******


	4. Business Streets and Waking Up

Kenspeckle rushed back a few minutes later and, after he'd injected the fluid into her bloodstream, Valkyrie had fallen unconscious almost immediately. Skulduggery sat by her bedside watching her veins turn a sickly yellow then, after 10 minutes, return to normal colour. She tossed and turned in her sleep and, 20 minutes later, started to open her eyes. She sat up and cleared her throat. Skulduggery said he'd got a call from Tanith asking how she was. Valkyrie was trying to figure out how Tanith knew what had happened to her when Kenspeckle entered the room.

"Ah, Valkyrie. You're awake." he looked rather pleased.

"Did it work? Did you get the information you needed?"

"I am happy to say that it did, and, that you must have a 2 day rest. So I need you to stay here so I can keep you in for analysys."

"But I can't let the reflection take my place for that long. My parents will notice something. They're not stupid!" Valkyrie said, trying to get Kenspeckle to let her go.

"I'm sorry Valkyrie but you can't leave" and with that Valkyrie stood up from the bed, and glared at Kenspeckle.

"You never said anything about me staying here over night, Or keeping me in for observations! So… Let. Me. Go. Home. Right. NOW!"

"Valkyrie, no matter how much you wish I'd let you go home I refuse to give in to you."

"Now, now Valkyrie. Doctor's orders…" Skulduggery put in.

"Don't agree with him! Just because you want to go off on your own you can't expect me to just stay here!"

"Well, I do!"

"Well tough!" Valkyrie said, she started shrugging her dressing gown off her shoulders and looking for her clothes. She paused. "Where are my clothes!?" she said, urgently.

"Hidden" Kenspekle replied, satisfied.

"Hidden where?"

"My dear, dear Valkyrie," Skulduggery said "If Professor Kenspeckle told you where he'd hidden your clothes then there would be no point in hiding them, would there?"

Valkyrie glared at them both "You know I really hate you sometimes…"

"I know" Skulduggery replied and with that he walked off. Valkyrie, who was seething with anger got back on the bed, just that moment Skulduggery came back round the corner.

"Umm… Actually could you give me a minute with her please?" Skulduggery asked Kenspeckle

"Oh, fine…" Kenspeckle replied as he walked out of the room and closed the door.

"What do you want Skulduggery?" asked Valkyrie looking into Skulduggery's empty eye sockets.

"I'm getting you out of here." he said in a stage whisper

"YOU'RE DOING WHAT?" Valkyrie said loudly, looking at Skulduggery, her eyes had doubled in size and she was looking at him shocked. He put a gloved finger to her mouth.

"Well, you said you wanted to be out of here."

"I do, but not like this!"

"Well, it's now or never"

"I HAVE TO GET CHANGED" she hissed at him

"No time Valkyrie" and with that he picked her up and carried her out of the ward, walking carefully the whole way, he took a turn and collected a bag.

"The Clothes?" Valkyrie asked.

"The Clothes" Skulduggery agreed.

And for the second time that day Valkyrie was carried through the theatre screen, and down some steps to the waiting Bentley.

***************

"OK, where to?" Valkyrie asked Skulduggery after she'd gone into a block of toilets to get changed.

"Well, the two people I arrested that kidnapped you are highly dangerous…"

"You don't say" Valkyrie responded sarcastically.

"I do say." Skulduggery said, obviously not caring about Valkyrie's bout of sarcasm.

"So what are their names again? My bump in the head's left my memory a bit worse for wear…"

"When was your memory ever any good?" he murmured

Skulduggery got a sharp dig in the ribs from Valkyrie's elbow. He grunted in pain.

"Served you right" Valkyrie said simply.

"Yes, because that was so mature" Skulduggery replied.

They squabbled all the way to their destination. This area was nice. It was upmarket and had people in suits and ties bustling up and down the street. Skulduggery got out and lowered his head to a woman in a green suit, she smiled back at him. But as Valkyrie got out she noticed someone familiar… too familiar. She dived back inside the car much to Skulduggery's surprise.

"Valkyrie, what are you doing?"

Valkyrie pointed over to a large plot of land. Standing in front of it was her father with a set of blueprints in his hands.

"What should I do!?" she said exasperatedly.

"Go over and talk to him."

Valkyrie looked at him. "WHAT!? I can't go and talk to him! Don't you think he's going to find it slightly strange that his daughter is both here and at home!?"

"He won't know. Go on. Go over to him. You can ask him what he's building. He might even be able to help us with our enquiries if you ask the right questions!"

Valkyrie glared at Skulduggery but eventually opened the car door and got out. Skulduggery shrank down in his seat slightly. Valkyrie was an intelligent girl, she'd know what to ask. He checked his disguise in his rear-view mirror before looking over at Valkyrie who was just approaching her father. He sat there and watched.

**************

Valkyrie walked over to her father trying to think of a reason why she would be so far away from her house and why she would be in such an upmarket, business-like area.

"Hey dad!" Valkyrie said smiling as she walked over to him.

He turned and his eyes widened when he saw her.

"Hey Steph!" he responded. Valkyrie couldn't remember the last time she'd been called Steph or Stephanie. Anyone in the world of magic knew her as Valkyrie Cain, not Stephanie Edgley. She found her father calling her Steph slightly odd.

"Are you ok?" Valkyrie asked her father.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine."

"So what are you doing here dad?" Valkyrie asked, trying to get down to business.

"Oh, we're developing a new building type thing for a private company. I don't know Steph, it's all gobbledegook to me"

"What kind of private company would build in this kind of street?"

He looked at her sceptically. "You're asking an awful lot of questions."

"Sorry, I just wanted to find out a bit more. You know. Learn what my dad was doing on a day to day basis."

He smiled. "The company runs tests on new drugs by pumping them into volunteers. The company gets paid thousands to do the job and the volunteers get a nice little sum at the end aswel."

Valkyrie looked at her father and shook her head.

"If I had to have an injection you can forget it. Never mind the money." She said and he chuckled at this.

"You never did like needles, Steph." he smiled at her.

"Oh, Dad, I have to be going. I've got somewhere to be." she kissed him on the cheek and ran across the road.

"Steph, one more thing… What are you doing here? This is a business street!" but Valkyrie had already disappeared behind a building.

*****************


	5. Discoveries and Smirking

"So what did you find out?" Skulduggery asked Valkyrie as she slipped into the seat beside him.

"That what he's building is for a company that runs tests on drugs"

"Is that it?"

"Well, yeah! I was panicking that I might be attacked in the street. I just thought of that one question!"

"Well at least we know that little bit of information…"

"Yeah, I suppose we do." Valkyrie crossed her arms and looked straight ahead.

Skulduggery went to say something but then closed his jaw again.

Valkyrie was moody recently. And he didn't know why. He was trying to think of how to ask her what was wrong in the nicest way possible when Valkyrie said:

"It's not fair"

Skulduggery gave her a sideways glance then continued looking at the road.

"What's not fair?"

"I couldn't defend myself! I should have been able to but I couldn't! I just let that idiot security guard knock me out! I could have got vital information without letting them know we were onto them! I'm so stu-" she was cut off by Skulduggery.

"You're not stupid Valkyrie. You're anything but stupid! You're one of the smartest people I- Let's just leave it at your smart..."

Valkyrie glared at him. "Oh Charming… But still, I should've been able to!" she slumped in her seat and looked straight ahead.

Skulduggery started the car and drove onto the road. Valkyrie looked out of the window and a silent tear ran down her cheek. The last time she had cried was at the house after her Uncle had died, a man had tried to get into her Uncle's house and take a "key". This time though, unlike last time when she was crying because she was scared , she was crying because she felt weak.

Skulduggery pulled the car into a quiet lay-by and turned off the engine.

"Valkyrie, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Some of the most powerful sorcerer's in the world found it hard to conjure magic when they felt under pressure."

"Really?" Valkyrie asked turning to Skulduggery. Quickly she wiped her eyes hoping that he wouldn't have seen her crying, but she knew that he had.

"Indeed they did. Even I have still trouble sometimes…"

"You do?"

"I said SOMETIMES!"

Stephanie smirked. No matter how caring Skulduggery was his ego was still huge.

"Well, when was the last time you had trouble with magic?"

"2 years ago. Some guy decided that he was going to try and take me apart. Bone from bone. Of course, still being able to feel pain it kinda hurt. So, in that much pain I couldn't focus on the magic and I ended up putting the bones on my right hand and left foot back together again…"

"Ouch. That HAD to hurt."

"Yep. But at least I put myself back together properly."

"There is that… although are you sure your little finger isn't actually your middle toe?"

Skulduggery opened his mouth then tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Valkyrie burst out laughing.

"Valkyrie, sometimes you are the most annoying person in the world… EVER!"

"I know this." Valkyrie grinned at him.

They drove a bit further and Skulduggery inhaled deeply.

"I figured something out whilst you were talking to your father." Skulduggery said

"Oh, Yeah?"

"Indeed. I realised that somewhere there must be a spy. Not even a sorcerer could have figured out that a 13 year old girl was actually an accomplice to a suave and sophisticated walking talking skeleton… there must have been someone telling Donna Thorpe and her sidekick who you were… but who?"

"Right… Not many people knew we were going… except Tanith, Mr Bliss and China."

"Indeed… so any ideas then?"

"I don't know… unless we've been bugged? Or someone's working for a different side? Maybe Mr Bliss?"

"I know you don't trust Mr Bliss and you don't like him, and you're quite right not to, but don't suddenly assume it's him. And it's not China before you say it."

"OK. So not that we've cut them off the list the only one left is Tanith and we both know that it's not her… don't we?"

"I assume so… she's never told anyone anything secret before so why would she start now?"

"Of course" Valkyrie replied "unless…"

"Unless?" Skulduggery said quizzically. Valkyrie knew that if he'd had eyebrows they would have been raised.

"What about my reflection? Would that be able to tell someone? I assume it would if it shares my memory's and feelings…"

"Funny things about reflections. There's a lot of stuff you wouldn't know about reflections…"

"Like?"

"Like how they're a few seconds out of synch with the rest of the world… it's only a tiny bit but it's enough for you to realise if you're trained and focused."

"You're kidding me?"

"No, I'm not… Really. You're reflection, well anyone's reflection is a tiny bit out of synch and it has those few precious nano seconds to think on it's own. Of course when there's nothing in front of it it doesn't do anything but as soon as something is there it has to mimic… It's not just a piece of reflective glass you know… It has thought."

"That is seriously weird… Are you sure reflections are alive?"

"Of course I'm sure.. I'm me."


	6. Drops and Skulls

They continued driving along when Skulduggery turned down a deserted road. They drove in silence for 5 minutes, Valkyrie was smiling to herself. She knew she'd still be upset if Skulduggery hadn't told her about his "misfortune" (if you could call it that) with magic. Skulduggery shifted slightly in his seat and as he did so the rain started falling heavily. They were just rounding a corner, and by now they were quite a few miles away from any kind of civilization, when Valkyrie spotted an old man walking along the side of the road, he seemed to be huddled up and to have nothing but a long sleeved shirt on and some ¾ length jeans..

"Shall we give him a lift to wherever he's going?"

"What if he's going somewhere different to us?"

"Then we'll drop him as close to it as we can."

"Valkyrie, do you not think he'll notice I'm a skeleton?"

"You keep your head down and I'll do the talking!" she put on her best "persuading" smile and he sighed.

"OK then." Skulduggery lowered the window and the man looked in through the window.

"Do you need a lift?" asked Valkyrie.

"Indeed I do"

"Hop in" Valkyrie said, smiling.

The man tried opening the door but it seemed to be stuck yet the lock was definitely open.

"Can you give me a hand please?" the man asked Valkyrie.

"Sure" Valkyrie got out of the car and went to open the door. An arm wrapped around her neck and tried to hold onto her. She stood on the old man's foot and twisted so she could get out of the headlock. It was as she turned that she noticed that the old man's face had turned to that of an young man's. He had emerald green eyes, Black hair with streaks of blue in it and very prominent cheek bones. Skulduggery was jumping out of the Bentley, gun in hand and was aiming at the man. Valkyrie lashed a kick at the man's kneecaps to see if she could make his legs give way. Unfortunately he foresaw this, but she realised that he had noticed so she quickly sent her leg up high and caught him in the face. This angered him so he reached into his jacket and grabbed a piece of rope, it could have been no longer than Valkyrie's arm. The man wrapped the rope around Valkyrie's neck and he flew up into the air and hovered about 6 feet up with Valkyrie struggling to get out of the rope which had now tightened rather a lot around her neck. Skulduggery looked about as worried as was possible for a living Skeleton.

"Let go of her now…" he walked a bit closer and the man flew another foot into the air.

"Why are you after Valkyrie? Why is she so special to you?"

"Thanks" Valkyrie managed to get out whilst trying to struggle against the rope that was tied around her neck. She had managed to get her hands around the rope and so that gave her a bit of space to get a few short breaths every now and then.

"Why is she so special to me? I could ask the same of you detective, but that would make things slightly awkward, wouldn't it?"

"Just let go of Valkyrie Cain now. Don't harm a single hair on her head."

The man flew up another 2 foot, by now they were hanging 9 foot in the air.

"You want me to let go of her?" he asked menacingly, a sick evil grin starting to etch it's way onto his face. "OK"

He dropped Valkyrie and she hit the ground with a sickening 'thwack'. She didn't move.

********************

Skulduggery thought for a moment that she was dead. Suddenly Valkyrie raised her head and looked the man, who was still hovering in the air, in the eye. She stood up and cracked her back and neck, then to Skulduggery's surprise she rose herself into the air and spat blood at the man. It landed on his shirt and he looked at it in disgust.

"If there's one thing you should never do," she said with an evil smile. "it's think that you can drop me on the ground and that I won't get back up again" and she hurled a fire ball at his face which definitely wiped the smirk off his face. In fact it wiped everything off his face and by the time that he had stopped screaming and Valkyrie had put out the flames all that was left was his skull. The mouth still hanging open in agony.

"Do you fancy taking that skull as your own?"

"No, I'm ok thank you Valkyrie… that Skull looks a little… well, suffice it to say I don't think it's a good idea."

"Ah well" she smiled a weak little smile and promptly fell into the bony arms of Skulduggery where she lay unconscious. He then proceeded to lift her properly and carefully placed her in the back of the Bentley before getting in the front seat. He glanced back at her. She had a deep cut in her head and her throat had a deep purple bruise from where the rope had cut into her. Her face had a few bruises on it from where she had landed on it in the fall. No doubt she would have broken a few bones during that. Skulduggery got out his mobile and dialled a number. His call was answered after 2 short rings and he muttered something to someone on the other end and promptly hung up and, after bringing the engine to life, set off in the direction of the Hibernian cinema.

***************

**If you've been reading this on DeviantArt you may have noticed that a few words have been changed. Sorry about that but my original cpy has gone missing from my system :(**

**Please R&R as they are golden. **

**I'd also like to say sorry ofr taking os long to update. Thanks for sticking with it. x)**


	7. What about the reflection?

**_x-Bolly-x: Hey!_**

**_Valkyrie: Hello People!_**

**_B: Yep, Valkyrie's decided to join us today. I think she' s trying to escape Skulduggery..._**

**_V: I AM NOT!_**

**_B: Mm-hmm..._**

**_V: Why don't you tell the people about you're mess-up *raises eyebrow*_**

**_B: Oh yeah, before we begin I think I better let those of you who get e-mail updates on this story know why you got 2 e-mails saying Chapter 7 was out (if you did get 2 e-mails which I'm assuming you did :) ) anyway, I messed up a bit when I typed this chapter and had to go back and re-edit it. I only noticed I'd messed up the writing AFTER I'd published it so I had to delete the original and re-load the improved version. I have no BETA so any mistakes are entirely my own (and Sony Vaio as it's their computer keyboard that refuses to work)_**

**_V: Don't blame the computer company..._**

**_B: You're very on edge today Val, are you OK?_**

**_V: Yeah, just waiting to read this story... I've been waiting ages and we're just sitting here talking... *sighs*_**

**_B: Oh, OK then... READ ON! :) Oh yeah, Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant are Copyright of Derek Landy. I'm only borrowing them (please don't sue me *puppy dog eyes*)_**

**_V: I doubt puppy dog eyes would work on him... he has a Munchkin Army..._**

**_B: Yeah, well... it might... *jumps* and Donna Thorpe belongs to me... :)_**

**_V: ENJOY!_**

**_-x-_**

**_********************************_**

Valkyrie woke up and realised she was lying down. Her body was aching and she could feel a gentle flow of blood streaming down her cheek. She looked around, willing her focus to speed up its own recovery. She realised she wasn't in Kenspeckle's hospital. There was natural light spilling in through some windows. Kenspeckle DEFINITELY had no windows. So she was somewhere else… THE BENTLEY! She could smell it. The experience of the beautiful car and it's comfy leather seats. She decided she had better sit up and let Skulduggery know she was ok- well as close to OK as she could get. She gently raised her head, taking care not to get up too soon or she would just fall straight back down again, she then went on to get herself sitting in an upright position. Every move was as painful as the first so she took them as baby steps. It was only once she was completely sat up that Skulduggery noticed she was even conscious again.

"Ah, Valkyrie! You're awake!"

"Obviously…"

"How do you feel?"

"Excellent!" Valkyrie said her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Really?" Skulduggery replied, seemingly not aware of her sarcasm.

"NO!"

"Oh…"

"Have you gotten any closer to figuring out what is happening here? I mean, first I go to Miss Thorpe's office to find out why all of Serpine's followers are going back into hiding, then her heavy's attack me, and then we found out about some weird drug's company, then, as if it wasn't enough, this happens!"

"Well, I managed to get something out of one of Serpine's old followers…"

"Really?"

"Indeed I did"

"And?"

"And he told me that something was coming, out of the darkness…"

"This is starting to sound like something out of Doctor Who…" she sniggered.

"Valkyrie…"

"OK, OK! Taking it seriously…"

"Anyway, this thing is coming out of the darkness and when I pressed him for more information he exploded…"

"Exploded?"

"Mmm-hmm… all over the place… it was very messy… I had to change suits."

Valkyrie just stared blankly at him.

"So Serpine's followers are going into hiding because the darkness is coming… could that be the darkness of a new leader? I mean Serpine's dead… isn't he?"

"Of course he is…" Skulduggery looked ahead and his grip tightened ever so slightly on the steering wheel "I hope." he added quietly.

"You hope?"

"Well, there's a 50% chance he's still alive somewhere…" Valkyrie looked at him with a menacing glare. "75% chance then" her glare deepened "99.9% chance" he said quietly.

"Sooo… to conclude… Serpine's followers are either getting ready for Serpine to come back or a new leader? Yes?"

"Absolutely…"

"And that means only 1 thing… and we both know what that is…"

"Trouble" they said in unison.

Just as the Bentley came to a halt outside the Hibernian.

*************************

"I'm fine!" Valkyrie whinged at Kenspeckle. He prodded her cheek and she took a sharp intake of breath.

"Don't tell me…" Kenspeckle said sarcastically. "That didn't hurt?" Kenspeckle asked raising a quizzical eyebrow and lacing his voice with sarcasm.

"Nope," Valkyrie tried smiling but found that it hurt quite a lot to use that many muscles In her face. "it didn't hurt a bit. I was just taking a quick breath of air, y'know." and she went on to demonstrate by inhaling quickly. Kenspeckle, obviously not fooled by this, pushed her gently, but firmly, back onto the bed.

"2 hours, Valkyrie. 2 hours and you and 'he' can leave here whenever." Valkyrie knew that 'he' was Skulduggery. "You did a runner last time, that is why this time I'm going to have people placed outside your door. If you so much as leave your room they'll follow you."

"BUT-!" Valkyrie tried to protest.

"NO VALKYRIE! You're staying put!"

Valkyrie huffed and glared at the wall in front of her.

"Sulking?" asked Skulduggery and Kenspeckle together.

"Hmmph" was all that Valkyrie would say.

"I'll take that as a yes then." replied Skulduggery. ***************************

3 Hours later and Valkyrie and Skulduggery were leaving the Hibernian Cinema. Skulduggery had insisted they stay the extra hour to make sure she was COMPLETELY OK. She had said she was fine but he didn't believe her. When he was completely satisfied that she was in near enough perfect condition he led her out to the car and took her home. He knew that she was probably emotionally as well as physically drained. She fell asleep on the way to her house and Skulduggery only woke her up when he pulled up outside the house. "Valkyrie?" he whispered, nudging her gently. "Valkyrie?" he said a bit started to stir and her eyes flicked open."We're here.""Hmm…? Oh, right. Thanks."Skulduggery looked up at the house and looked back at Valkyrie.

"Am I very much mistaken or is your house not only in darkness but also missing your car?""Mum and Dad went out to a party. They trusted me enough to stay at home on my own." she shrugged."You can come inside for a while if you like.""Umm… Why?""I don't know… maybe we could try and figure out what's happening in this case."

"Uh…" Skulduggery looked straight ahead to the road. You could practically hear the cogs turning in his skull. "I suppose."He got out of the car and so did Valkyrie. She left the car door open and ran ahead to her front door. Valkyrie span on her heel just as Skulduggery was about to close her car door for her."NO!" her eyes were wide as she shouted at him. "Hang on, I want to try something."Skulduggery leaned against the car bemused. He watched Valkyrie closely. She concentrated on her hand and felt the interlocking objects. She knew this was a bit bigger than most of the things she pushed around but she felt like she needed to do it. It was a good test anyway wasn't it? She pushed at the air quite forcefully expecting to use a lot of force. The door slammed shut and Skulduggery jumped."Let's try and leave the door on the car shall we?" he walked up to her and they went to the back of the house. Valkyrie leapt onto the windowsill first and levered it open. As usual the reflection was there but it looked different tonight. The creepy effect had lessened by now but there was still that underlying weirdness about it. The reflection stood up from the bed never breaking eye contact with Valkyrie."Hello," the reflection said, tonight's smile even creepier than it had been before."Hey, good day at school?" Valkyrie replied, taking a gulp."Nothing special. Mr Davenrish was about as boring as ever as well as spraying us with spit." the real Valkyrie grimaced and, not for the first time, was glad she was with Skulduggery instead of being spat at by some overweight 45 year old who was, she swore, losing hair by the minute and looked very much like a Hamster on occasions. Valkyrie was snapped out of her reverie by Skulduggery standing next to her. He bowed his head in greeting to the reflection and it replied with a small smile.

"Do you wish to regain your memories?" that was new. Valkyrie had never heard it say that before."Umm… yes."

"Very well." the reflection went to step, if it was possible, a little reluctantly into the mirror world. Skulduggery was standing where he had a perfect view of the two of them. The reflection stepped back into the mirror and, just as Valkyrie touched the mirror it laughed an evil laugh and as the transfer of memories ended Valkyrie stumbled back. In recent months more and more of Valkyrie's memories were becoming blank and she didn't know why. She never had the chance to ask the reflection and she didn't want to tell Skulduggery because he would, typically, try and over-protect her. But this was ridiculous. Valkyrie didn't know half of what happened today because, as they were slotting into her memory, she could not find out in a particular lesson, what the reflection did at lunch, where the reflection went after school. It had all been erased. She decided she should tell Skulduggery now.

***********

**_B: Worth the wait Val?_**

**_V: Yeah *hugs x-Bolly-x*_**

**_B: Umm, thanks Val. Glad you liked it. XD_**

**_V: REVIEW PEOPLE! C'MON! I wanna see them all flood in before I have to go back to Sulkduggery..._**

**_B: *dubiously* You mean Skulduggery...?_**

**_V: No, I mean Sulkduggery... me and Tanith came up with loads of different names for him, Skullington Man, Skul-dude (thanks for the idea Finbar), and, of course, Sulkduggery. *Beams*_**

**_B: So why is he Sulkduggery today?_**

**_V: Because we were clearing out one of the rooms in his house (we didn't have anything to better to do... Guild having blocked anyone from talking to us about 'Sanctuary business, and we were waiting for an appointment we'd made to go and meet someone who can help us with one of our current cases...) anyway, Skulduggery was going through a box when he just froze. I didn't notice at first but when I stopped too and noticed there was no movement I looked up and he was just staring at this orange piece of card. I didn't really understand till he dropped to his knees and turned his head to me... I asked him if I could see the card and he handed it to me and on it were the words "VIP. Bacstage Pass. Grace Kelly Tour. 1955 - To Catch A Thief WORLD PREMIERE"..._**

**_B: NO WAY!_**

**_V: Yeah! Turns out he'd looked for it for days after putting it in a special place and when he couldn't find it he couldn't go and meet her. He was crushed._**

**_B: I'll bet... if someone gave me a ticket to go and see Rober- someone I liked and I lost it I'd be devastated!_**

**_V: *rasises eyebrows and looks questioningly* Yeeeaaahhh. Well anyway, he's at home sulking because he never got to see Grace Kelly in the flesh... poor guy. I feel bad for him now... maybe I should get back... *rises from her seat and turns to leave*_**

**_B: OK Thanks for coming Val :)_**

**_V: No probs. BYE! -x-_**

**_B: C ya! -x-_**

**_(Sorry I had to put this bit in... I wanted to have a go... if it's boring let me know in a review and I won't put it in the next one)_**


	8. Telling Skulduggery

"Valkyrie?" Skulduggery tilted his head and peered at the 13 year old who was currently looking at the ground obviously deep in concentration. "Valkyrie, is there something you want to tell me?" he tried again. Suddenly Valkyrie's head shot up and she looked him straight in the eye-socket.

"OK, here's the thing…" she paused. "Y'see the thing is…" she paused again "Well-"

"Just tell me what's bothering you before I go insane!" Skulduggery said, for the first time Valkyrie noticed a hint of annoyance to his normally velvet voice

"Ok, the reflection's been keeping things from me for a while and it's been hiding more and more over the past few months. I don't know what's wrong with it but it's definitely not right. Anyway, with the memories from today there's hardly anything there. She-" Valkyrie hesitated "It, might aswel have not even bothered sharing what happened today!" she sighed. This was not going to be good and Skulduggery would be mad for sure. He never liked being kept in the dark. There was that time that Tanith organised a party for him and Skulduggery got so mad that he ended up capturing Tanith, tying her to a chair and pointing a big light into her face and questioning her for hours on end. It would have been comical if Tanith hadn't have been so angry. In the end he let her go and she told him to celebrate his birthday on his own preferably in a furnace. He just blamed it on 'women problems' and went on his way. So, suffice it to say, that Skulduggery Pleasant did not like being kept in the dark about the smallest thing. Not even the tiniest detail. So why at this time was he not getting mad and storming about the house? Why was he simply standing there nodding his head?

"You're not shouting…" Valkyrie tested the waters with a gentle tone.

"No, I'm not shouting. I can understand why you kept this from me. You thought I'd insist that you never called upon the reflection again went back to school and left this life behind."

"Umm… no. Not even close." Valkyrie looked at the skeleton sceptically.

"Oh well. It was worth a try. I think you're reflection may have been possessed." Skulduggery was obviously not in the mood right now to discuss matters further with Valyrie as to why she was being secretive and he just wanted to get straight down to business. "Well, that is the most likely of all the answers but it makes me wonder whether this has something to do with Ms. Thorpe…"

"Yeah, what was all that about? You never did explain properly. Just told me to go and ask the right questions."

"Well, there have been rumours that Serpine, or someone imitating Serpine, is back. Now, we know that Serpine was killed but that doesn't mean that there isn't someone finishing off what he set out to do. Now Serpine had a list of all his followers and if you know the right people and can get the right kind of actors required to play villains then you can get your hands on that very piece of paper. Knowing as many people as I do, I made a few calls and obtained it through, err… well let's just say I managed to get it. Anyway, Serpine had put the people in order of importance and in his top 5 was one name I'd never heard of. Ms. Donna Thorpe. Naturally I went looking for her and when I found she was working for some secret drugs company then I knew that there had to be something more. You don't just go from following Serpine's every move to working in pharmaceuticals. I did some research and, out of every 10 people that offered themselves up as Guinea Pigs, only 2 came out of the building and, eventually, even they disappeared. No records of what happened to them and no records of the people inside the building ever coming out. My theory or hunch or whatever you want to call it is that Donna Thorpe is finding some way of bringing Serpine's dream to the forefront of everyone's minds, humans and magicians alike, and one way she will definitely be trying to do that is by making it known to me first because of my obvious past with Serpine. Why she'd want to alert the one person who can (and will) stop her is anybody's guess but I think she may have done something to make your reflection turn against every part of you that's you and it's doing her bidding. Of course the whole memory blocking thing is something that she may have done to it and it may not even realise it or she might have taught it how to do it and it just does that wherever it sees fit to do so. It might not realise that it's taking such chunks out of you memory but it's just doing what it thinks it should do for you not to realise what's happening. The problem with reflections is that they can't be taught things They can be told things which they'll memorise with a photographic memory and be able to repeat immediately after. Whether it be a piano concerto or how to tie a shoelace it only has to watch you once and it can do it."

"But what's the difference with being taught and seeing how it's done and repeating it?" Valkyrie was truly confused now and there was such a lot to take in.

"Being taught something normally takes time and effort but if you see something once and can repeat it immediately then it's not stressful and can take immediate effect in the brain."

"Right…" Valkyrie agreed with herself that she would never understand what he was on about when he was on one of his rambling trips that only he knew the directions for.

"You have no idea what I just said do you?" Skulduggery questioned her. She could just imagine his eyebrows raising on his forehead.

"Not. A. Clue." She admitted.

"Suffice it to say that instead of your reflection having to go to school it need only go to the library, pick up books on different subjects, read each page and it would be smarter than the smartest person in the world. Understand now, Valkyrie?"

"Yeah." Valkyrie turned her head to the side and then whipped it back round to face him. "HOLD ON ONE SECOND! You mean that all this time all I needed to do was send my reflection to the library and I'd never need school again and you forgot to tell me?! And with all the stupid 'I'm so brilliant' stuff you go on about!" she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"I'm trying not to be offended. I am brilliant…" he trailed off.

"Of course you are, and I'm going out with a vampire called Edward Cullen." she snorted and shook her head. Skulduggery just got up and began walking to the Bentley. He didn't need to turn around to know that Valkyrie was following.

"Stupid bloody skeleton…" and the Bentley came to life with a twist of the key.

**********************

Valkyrie slumped down on the sofa in Skulduggery house.

"Food? Drink?" Skulduggery asked as he walked past her.

"What kind of food?" Valkyrie looked at him suspiciously. "You don't own food. Remember?"

"Ah," said Skulduggery. "I do, however, have take-out menus."

"Awesome" Valkyrie said and jumped up from her seat. She dialled the number on one of the leaflets and ordered a rather large portion of egg fried rice, Chicken balls and prawn crackers (Or as the people in the shop called it: 55, 172 and 96). She placed the receiver back on the pedestal and walked into the kitchen where Skulduggery was reading various things that he'd dragged down from upstairs.

"I'm paying, I presume…?" he queried. Valkyrie could imagine him raising an eye-brow.

"Well, obviously. You're the one who suggested it." she tried her most adorable puppy-dog look and he sighed 'haha,' she thought. 'I've won again.'

"Yes Valkyrie, OK." Skulduggery said "There's no need to try that face with me. You know it works just as well as I do and we both knew I was going to pay regardless so go and answer the door for the poor delivery guy."

"Skulduggery, the delivery guy hasn't even kno-" there was a knock at the door. I could feel the smugness radiating from Skulduggery. "Money, please." Skulduggery handed her his wallet and she walked to the door. She hated how he was always right about stuff. Bloody egotistical maniacal skeleton. She paid the guy and came back indoors. Getting a plate, knife and fork out of the cupboard Valkyrie sat down and began to place the meal on the plate.

"You see the problem here is that we know where Donna Thorpe is and we know who works for her but we don't know who she works for herself." She sat looking at him as she shovelled some rice into her mouth.

"Ah, well. I did some research and by research I mean talking to her body-guard and when I say talking I mean er… persuading him to give us the information I required."

"Did the persuading work?"

"Yes and No." Valkyrie raised her eyebrow and tilted her head slighty (she just noticed she had taken on some of Skulduggery's mannerisms.) "Well, yes he gave us his pass key which is a platinum level security meaning we can get ANYWHERE in the building and, No, he doesn't know who her bosses are. The guy just know that she pays his pay check and he accepts it and asks no questions."

"The thing is that there were 2 body-guards. There was one called Tim. He disappeared just as me and the other one got in the lift. He knew who I was and he knew LOADS of other stuff. You don't think he was on a secret mission or something? Part of the sanctuary? But Guild…" Valkyrie decided to shut up as she knew she couldn't answer these questions herself and she doubted Skulduggery could yet.

"I don't know who the other one is but he sounds like he could be the person we need to talk to. Until we find him though we may have a few problems…"

Valkyrie sighed. "Well, it's not as if we're going to find him anytime soon is it? Ireland's a big place and he could be anywhere by now…"

Valkyrie put her plate in the sink and grabbed her jacket from across the back of the chair where it was draped. Skulduggery also got up from his chair and went to unlock the door.

"I mean," continued Valkyrie "it's not as if he's just gonna be right outside the door or leaning against the car is it?" she laughed and Skulduggery opened the door… and there was Tim the security guard leaning against the door frame.


End file.
